Loyola Greyhounds (1-1-0)• The Greyhounds opened the season with back-to-back games on the road, beginning last week, Friday, Aug. 22, with a 2-0 shutout win at George Mason. The following Monday, Aug. 25, they followed up with a 3-2 loss at UMBC.• Friday’s home opener will be the third of four games in a nine day stretch for the Greyhounds. • Junior Rosy Hayes leads the Greyhounds with five points on two goals and one assist, while senior Jessica Van Dyke has for points and two goals. • In goal, senior Colleen Folan has recorded one shutout and five saves in 180 minutes of action.

George Washington Colonials (2-0-0)• George Washington has won both matches of the 2014 season and enters Friday’s contest undefeated. The Colonials opened their season with a 6-0 win against Mount St. Mary’s and followed it up with a 1-0 overtime victory versus Old Dominion. • Kayla Ridley leads the team with two goals, while Kristi Abbate, Brittany Cooper, Meg Murphy, MacKenzie Cowley and Camille Roberts have all scored one this year.• In goal, Miranda Horn has not allowed a single goal, facing 13 shots and making eight saves in 152 minutes of action.

Series History• George Washington leads the series 2-1-1, last meeting September 24, 2013. • The Greyhounds closed their 2013 non-conference schedule with the Colonials, coming away with a 1-1 draw in Washington, D.C.• Sophomore Maddie Boccio recorded her first collegiate goal in the 77th minute of the contest. The forward took a pass from classmate Morgan Crable and dribbled past three defenders for Loyola’s lone goal of the evening. • The Greyhounds had a chance to win the contest, but an own goal early in the first half gave George Washington the score it needed to tie the match.

Up Next• The Greyhounds take Saturday off before returning to Ridley Athletic Complex on Sunday to take on first-time opponent DePaul University at 1 p.m.

Home Openers• Loyola is 9-9-4 in home openers and looking to improve to a winning percentage on Friday against George Washington.• The Greyhounds faced the Colonials once in a season opener, falling to the Atlantic10 team, 3-0, on September 6, 1997.

Patriot League Honors• Sophomore Nicole Wahlig became the first Greyhound of the 2014 season to acquire Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors, earning the accolade on August 25.• Wahlig guided the defense to a 2-0 shutout victory over the Patriots, proving to be a dominating presence in the air. The East Meadow, New York, native won a number of aerial balls for Loyola, which created offensive looks for the Greyhounds. • In addition, senior Colleen Folan and junior Rosy Hayes were included on the league’s honorable mention list. • Folan recorded her first-career shutout, helping the Greyhounds to a 2-0 victory.• Hayes scored the first goal of the 2014 season, when senior Jessica Van Dyke created a finishing opportunity that was blocked by Patriot’s goalkeeper Briana Kottler. Hayes took advantage of the rebound and found an open goal before the defender could stop the ball.

Patriot League Preseason Poll• Loyola was picked to finish eighth in the 2014 Patriot League Preseason Poll. • Boston University was chosen as the favorite to win the Patriot League women’s soccer title, collecting 15 first-place votes and 159 points. The United States Naval Academy received the remaining first-place votes and were predicted to finish second with 148 votes.• The United States Military Academy polled fourth with 101 points, and American University was fifth with 98. Bucknell University grabbed the sixth spot with 82 points, while Lehigh University came in seventh with 55 points. Loyola took eighth with 46 points, three more than College of the Holy Cross at ninth. Lafayette College finished 10th with 37 points.

Meet The New Faces On The Sidelines• On February 6, 2014, Naomi Meiburger was named the fifth head coach in the 22-year history of Loyola University Maryland women’s soccer.• Meiburger recently completed her 11th year at Georgetown where she served as the women’s soccer associate head coach for the last three seasons. She helped the Hoyas reach the NCAA Women’s College Cup for the second year in a row, and the team finished 2013 with a 16-3-2 record.• Meiburger started her tenure at Georgetown in 2003 as an assistant coach, and was promoted to associate head coach in January 2011 after the Hoyas’ run to the NCAA Quarterfinals.• She worked specifically with the Hoyas’ goalkeepers and defenders, and was instrumental in the development of National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas Mid-Atlantic Region All-America goalkeeper Jackie DesJardin (2007-2010). Under Meiburger’s leadership, DesJardin and the Georgetown defense ranked 42nd out of 325 NCAA Division I teams in goals against average (0.809) in 2010.• Assistant Coach Jim McGirr, a veteran to the women’s soccer world, returns to Loyola after spending a year on the Evergreen Campus from 2002-03 as an assistant to then-Head Coach Joe Mallia. During his time, he helped the Greyhounds to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance.• Prior to his return, McGirr spent nine seasons as the head coach at Providence College. In his first stint at head coach, he trained and developed five Big East All-Conference players and led the Friars to the 2011 Big East quarterfinals. The next year, the Friars received the 2012 NCAA Public Recognition Award given to the top 10 percent of teams nationally in the Academic Progress Rate report.• Assistant Coach Stephen McKenna came to Loyola after serving one season as a volunteer assistant coach at Georgetown University with Meiburger. He helped the Hoyas to a 16-3-2 season and the team’s second-consecutive NCAA College Cup appearance.• The final addition to Meiburger’s staff is former West Virginia University standout and current Western New York Flash player Erica Henderson. The Rochester, New York, native will serve as the volunteer assistant coach for the 2014 season. • Henderson led West Virginia to two BIG EAST Championships and four-straight NCAA College Cup appearances, earning NSCAA All-Northeast Region honors in 2010 and 2011.• Professionally, she was drafted to the Western New York Flash in the fourth round of the 2013 Women’s Pro Soccer Draft. In her first year, the squad finished first among teams in the NWSL, going 10-4 during the season.

Team Captains• Seniors Colleen Folan, Lindsay LeSavage and Kelly Santangelo return to the Greyhounds’ lineup as captains for the 2014 season. • Folan, the 2014-15 president of Loyola’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee, brings leadership and experience to the team. The Downingtown, Pennsylvania, native played in three matches as goalie, twice as the starting keeper for the Greyhounds in 2013. Folan logged 11 saves during her career to go along with an impressive .864 save percentage. She set a career-high mark in saves during the season opener at Towson last year, stopping five shots in a win against the Tigers.• LeSavage returns to Loyola after playing in 14 matches during her collegiate career. The Lithia, Florida, native finished her rookie campaign with three shots, including one on net against Saint Louis University. The following season, Loyola won every game in which LeSavage contributed playing time, boosting the team to an impressive 12-6-4 record, a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship and an appearance in the 2012 NCAA College Cup.• Santangelo, a driving force for the Greyhounds’ defense, returns to Loyola with both playing and leadership experience. The middle back helped Loyola hold teams scoreless for 389 minutes from October 21 - November 4 of her junior year. That same season, Santangelo proved to be strong at both ends of the field, recording her first collegiate goal in a 6-0 shutout against Saint Peter’s. She was named to the MAAC All-Rookie Team as a defender and guided the Greyhounds to a conference title the following season in Poughkeepsie, New York.